Hyundai i20 stuck in reverse gear

This is a discussion on Hyundai i20 stuck in reverse gear within Technical Stuff, part of the Under the Hood category; My Hyundai i20 has been acting weird last night. I was trying to park the car near my house and ...

My Hyundai i20 has been acting weird last night. I was trying to park the car near my house and after going reverse, the gear got locked. It would not engage neutral or any other gear and remained stuck in reverse gear. We tried for sometime to see if it would budge but it doesnt seem to be working. For the past one week ive been noticing a slight amount of difficulty in changing to certain gears at times but it wasnt too bad until last night when it got stuck.

For a little history the car had been in an accident few months back and the gearbox casing and some gears were replaced and it was running perfectly fine for over 2 months now after that. So im not sure if this problem has anything to do with that.

Has anyone faced an issue of this sort? Any thoughts of how or what i should be looking for? Im going to call up hyundai service center today but i guess they would have to tow it. But even then somebody would have to hold the clutch all the way.

PS: I saw that there was a similar thread for i10 from few years back but that seems like it was a known issue and Hyundai themselves were providing free fix. Hence i created a separate thread for this one.

My Hyundai i20 has been acting weird last night. I was trying to park the car near my house and after going reverse, the gear got locked. It would not engage neutral or any other gear and remained stuck in reverse gear. We tried for sometime to see if it would budge but it doesnt seem to be working. For the past one week ive been noticing a slight amount of difficulty in changing to certain gears at times but it wasnt too bad until last night when it got stuck.

For a little history the car had been in an accident few months back and the gearbox casing and some gears were replaced and it was running perfectly fine for over 2 months now after that. So im not sure if this problem has anything to do with that.

Has anyone faced an issue of this sort? Any thoughts of how or what i should be looking for? Im going to call up hyundai service center today but i guess they would have to tow it. But even then somebody would have to hold the clutch all the way.

PS: I saw that there was a similar thread for i10 from few years back but that seems like it was a known issue and Hyundai themselves were providing free fix. Hence i created a separate thread for this one.

Are you able to shift it back once you have the car switched off?
Sounds like hydraulics failure.
You should get that checked.

EDIT:Before you have it towed out to HSS, try and get hold of a local guy , describe the problem to him.
I had faced a similar thing some time ago, and had to pay 1900 bucks for towing to the service station, but only because ford parts are not easily available outside.
Otherwise, my mechanic had identified the problem and given the fix.

Hyundai parts have easier availability, I recall(but I speak from experience with the i10 and the santro.You can check for the i20)

First check if there is any fluid leakage under the car. Are you able to engage the clutch at all ? In any case the tranny needs to be opened and checked. Usual culprits are a fried clutch plate, leaking clutch fluid , transmission linker et all.

A friends car had the same problem and it turned out to be a fried clutch plate. Now you know where to start from. Get the car towed to the garage and have them open up the tranny and get it checked.

Its either a hydraulics failure or a broken bearing. You will have to get the car towed (Not sure how will they manage it), if its a hydraulics you can see (once opened) that the fluid would have spread all over.

Here i am assuming you have checked the under-body and have not found anything broken and hanging. Although if the connecting rod is broken it manifests itself in a different way and does not lock the gear lever.

First check if there is any fluid leakage under the car. Are you able to engage the clutch at all ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayankk

Here i am assuming you have checked the under-body and have not found anything broken and hanging.

Now thats something i havent checked. Though i was able to engage clutch I havent looked for any possible leakage. It was night when it happened. So may be ill have more luck looking for these now. Will check that and update here soon.

Allow the Gear Oil to settle down and then check whether the gear lever can be moved to neutral position. This will help if the gear oil level is low.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

You will have to get the car towed (Not sure how will they manage it),

Since its FWD, there is no problem in towing the front end up.

EDIT: -

@Rahul
I mentioned this since the Gear had stuck in a (Reverse) Gear and hence the Front wheels will not rotate (if the clutch is not pressed).
In this case, the Rear wheels are free to rotate (if handbrake is released) and the car can be towed only with Front end up (IIRC).

I hope I made myself clear.

Last edited by IndigoXLGrandDi : 27th April 2012 at 22:59.
Reason: Edited for answering Rahul's quote.

So I did call up the Hyundai roadside assistance number and after explaining the problem they came with the tow truck. I explained him what the problem was and he tried fiddling around with the gear lever for a while and after a few minutes he managed to release it. I did a few test drives and tried changing it back forth couple of times to confirm and it was all fine. So in the end it didn't have to be towed. Also I checked for leakage inside the bonnet and under and there was no sign of any. So for now it's working fine but im a bit worried if it'll happen again and where it would happen.

A quick OT - is there a problem towing FWD with rear up? Or an RWD with front end up?

--Rahul

I believe in a FWD, the is no problem towing with front end up. Because its a FWD, the rear wheels rotate freely(provided handbrake not engaged). So, its better to tow a FWD with the front end up. If you tow with the rear end up, you are forcing the front wheels to move (which could offer more resistance). The same logic applies for a RWD. Better to tow with the rear end up.

So for now it's working fine but im a bit worried if it'll happen again and where it would happen.

Its better to get it checked, why did it got stuck in the first place, what did the guy who came said? It can be early sign of impending trouble (or can be false alarm as well). Unless its checked there is no guarantee if it wont happen again.

Would advise not to take this car on highway for sometime, within the city limits should not be that big a problem.

Hi liquid
If my hunch is right, then the problem should be with the reverse gear engagement lift knob that is present near the neck of the gear stick. A faulty release spring in that lift Knob may be the problem creator.
Please get it checked and rectified if necessary.
Cheers

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. I wasn't sure if I should take it to Hyundai since right now I don't have any sort of problem to show them. But since everyone here is suggesting, I'll definitely get that checked.